If there is anything that the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us, it is the power of working together and reaching out to help others. It is in this light that Khaltsha Cycles and Avalanche Bicycle Company have come together to launch the Heroes on Bikes campaign to raise funds towards supporting essential workers. The health risks and spatial limitations that come with the virus have meant limited options as means for essential workers to commute to work. The Heroes on Bikes campaign thus provides a solution to this issue by providing essential workers with a safe, reliable, and convenient way of commuting to work – by bicycle.

Sindile Mavundla a bicycle activist, an avid cyclist, member of the TSIBA Cycling Club and a fearless entrepreneur. He started Khaltsha Cycles, a cycle shop in Khayelitsha, one of the first located in the heart of the townships of Cape Town.

When the pandemic hit, he immediately started thinking of how Khaltsha Cycles could make a difference. He realised that essential workers in the townships have little in the way of affordable and safe transportation to get back and forth to their work; trains and busses are not running, taxis are unsafe and e-hailing services are expensive. What better way to get to work at this time than a bicycle?

He motivated Avalanche Bicycles, a well-known bicycle manufacturer in Cape Town to work with Khaltsha to offer a no-frills commuter bicycle including spares to the HEROES of the Corona pandemic: all the essential workers working tirelessly despite lockdown to ensure our health, safety and food security. The package he created has a cost of R3,500 and Avalanche and Khaltsha together are contributing R1,000. Khaltsha has set up a fundraising campaign to raise the remaining R2,500 to make this a reality.

Twenty essential workers have signed up, and donations have already made it possible to fund the first two bikes. If you would like to get involved, go to Heroes on Bikes or email Sindile directly at sindile@khaltshacycles.co.za . Listen to Sindile himself: “A bicycle is the perfect mode of transport for social distancing. Our Heroes need safe, reliable, convenient and affordable transportation to get to our communities throughout the COVID-19 crisis. As a pilot test, we hope to raise more than 50 bicycles and expand this initiative to other parts of the country. That would be a great achievement for us”

The campaign has raised 10 bicycles (including spares and accessories) and plans to start building and distributing the bicycles to beneficiaries in Langa, Khayelitsha, Gugulethu, Athlone just to mention a few.

Donations of any amount are welcomed. To make a donation click on the Backabuddy link below www.backabuddy.co.za/charity/profile/khaltsha-cycles

Media inquiries:

If you would like more information about this topic, please call Sindile Mavundla at +27 (0)84 551 2053 or email sindile@khaltshacycles.co.za www.khaltshacycles.co.za

Images and video: https://photos.app.goo.gl/bH27fhhGU78obD4d6

About the sender:

Khaltsha Cycles is a one-stop bike shop based in Khayelitsha Cape Town. Our passion has always been to create and promote the culture of cycling in townships by offering quality affordable bicycles. We believe that bicycles do change lives, our programmes include learn to cycle classes, bike2school and safe cycling.